Home Blog Page 317

The Calming Effect of Colour Blue

Garima Roy
-
1
The Calming Effect of Colour Blue
.
You and I are sea-blue

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions – Pablo Picasso

Colors, they say, is the music of the soul. The subconscious mind reacts to colors for the flow of energy in our body. Like the colour blue, associated with eternity, blue delves into one’s soul to restore peace of mind.

Blue connects you with the divine as its energy is full-strength, calming, quieting and curative. This is a color that seeks peace and tranquillity above everything else, promoting both physical and mental relaxation.

According to the Buddhist philosophy, blue is the color of clarity. To achieve stillness one needs the guidance of a pure mind. The color blue helps in letting you find a sense of faith and hope.

Whenever, in doubt, connect yourself to the color blue. Shut your eyes and imagine yourself breathing the blue color of the ocean to infuse serenity within you, or even objects from your daily life like a blue wall can do the trick. The color helps you to listen to your voice. It provides you the stillness required to connect to thyself.

Numerous ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced Chromotherapy, or the use of colors to heal. Chromotherapy is occasionally mentioned as light therapy and is still used today as an alternative treatment to cure diseases.

According to Chromatherapy, for a proper flow of energy, one should maintain strong blue energy. The color helps in illustrative and creative thinking, giving clarity to the mind.
It exudes certain positive feeling that promote consciousness. It is when your personal insights merge with the collective consciousness, you draw upon the wisdom of the Universe.

Rochie Rana, a color therapist says, “Blue is the colour that brings peace, tranquility and inspiration, its harmonious nature can immediately bring a sense of calm to the environment, completely recommended in the times of stress and even for daily living when one has to endure a million reasons that could each give one a heart attack.”

The colour blue reduces stress, creating a sense of calmness, relaxation and order
The colour blue reduces stress, creating a sense of calmness, relaxation and order

Blue is also the color of the Throat chakra (5th chakra), the source of communication and manifestations. When the throat chakra is open, your ability to communicate with yourself and people around improves. And getting in touch with your inner self is an absolute joy.

The creation of positive energy can be applied to all your lower chakras. One can access the universal knowledge and integrates it with the personal truth. This expression of your truth (whether it is writing, dancing, singing, or painting) is created from the throat chakra. The color blue affects you on a mental, spiritual, physical and emotional level.

People with weak blue energy appear tensed in the upper body and have a weak spine. Most of the block faced mentally and spiritually can be cured by the introduction of the color blue. Feel the color. Swim in the ocean and gaze at the blue sky. Introduce the color in your day-to-day life and move towards an obstruction free path of spiritual and creative journey.

Lets take a few moments to enjoy the calming effect of the colour Blue –

Image Source –

Blue flowers
Deep blue

The Vibratory Power of Sacred Words

Clyde
-
17
The Vibratory Power of Sacred Words

“The mantra becomes one’s staff of life and carries one through every ordeal. Each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer and nearer to God.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

A long time ago, when I was in school, I had a friend who used to have a tally counter.

If you don’t know what that is, it’s a simple counter that you can press a button and well it counts. So he would be reciting his mantras and every time he finished one he would press a button. He had to repeat the mantra for a set amount of times.

At that point of time I found it funny, what difference would it make if you say it, are you hoping for God’s blessings?

Well that incident was embedded in my subconscious mind and it surfaced when I was reading the “Bhagavad Gita for daily living” by Eknath Easwaran where he talks about Mantras.

According to Eknath, “Mantras are powerful spiritual formula that, when repeated silently in the mind, have the capacity to transform consciousness.”

He covers points about how all religions have sacred words or Mantras – the Catholics have the Rosary where they repeat the Hail Mary’s, the common Buddhist Mantra is ‘Om mani padme hum’ that refers to the jewel in the lotus of the heart.’ While Muslims repeat the name of Allah or Allahu Akbar, ‘God is Great’.

While Hinduism has a range of mantras to choose from, personally, the one that resonates with me is the “Gayatri Mantra.”

The Gayatri Mantra is a highly revered mantra, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of the Rigveda. Here’s a rough translation of the Gayatri Mantra:

“We meditate upon the spiritual effulgence of that adorable supreme divine reality. Who is the source of the physical, the astral and the heavenly spheres of existence. May that supreme divine being enlighten our intellect, so that we may realize the supreme truth.”

Eknath puts us up to a test, he tells us that there is nothing magical when it comes to the transformation of consciousness. His advice it to repeat any Mantra we choose and to stick with it, then you repeat it silently at every moment you have, waiting for a bus, going for a walk, while doing mechanical chores like washing the dishes and especially when you are falling asleep.

You will find that it’s not mindless repetition; the mantra will help keep you relaxed and alert. Whenever you are angry or afraid, nervous or worried or resentful, repeat the mantra until the agitation subsides.

The mantra works to steady the mind and all these emotions are power running against you which the mantra can harness and put to work.

From, the Autobiography of a Yogi, “The infinite potencies of sound derive from the Creative Word, Aum, the cosmic vibratory power behind all atomic energies. Any word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has a materializing value.Loud or silent repetition of inspiring words has been found effective in various systems of psychotherapy; the secret lies in stepping up of the mind’s vibratory rate.”

Image Sources:

Prayer Beads

The Enigmatic Art of Sylvian Dousset

Clyde
-
0
The Enigmatic Art of Sylvian Dousset

sylvian doussets artSylvian Dousset, a mix media artist from France, uses his art to convey messages of peace, love, serenity and spiritual enlightenment. A look at his art and you are confronted by the merger of digital to analog, human to animal, tribal to modern.

Its difficult to place Sylvian’s art into a particular category, as he himself puts it, like his own reality his art is an extension of his evolutionary process which is still growing.

His goal is to create a portal that will open the doors of consciousness for the viewers where his/her inner self resides, enable the unlocking of the “cosmic child”. Lets get to know more about Dousset’s journey as an artist…

When did you discover your passion for art and how?

I have always been drawing, as long as I can remember, since I was a child. My Grandfather used to teach me basic drawing as a kid and I was fond of history books, always drawing and imagining things from what I saw.

My passion for Art grew year after year and as I was very sensitive and contemplative, I guess that drawing was the best way for me express myself, living in my own world. After school graduation I naturally went to an Art school in Angouleme, France. At that time I wanted to be a painter but I was always interested in all the new things they had to offer there, so I tried many things like learning how to do comics, sculpting, photography and so on.

Then when the time came to work for a living and I put aside the “I wanna be a true artist, free of all form of restraint” part of myself to become a digital artist, working for video-game companies…And life went on, I forgot that at first I dreamt of being a painter.

It came back full mode years later…I guess I was tired of being told what I had to draw or create, even if it was fun to participate in video-game developments. I also came into a deep spiritual awakening phase and it became more and more obvious that Art was the real path I wanted to follow in order to really find and realize myself in. So here I am!

dragon chimera

What is your art, is there a specific genre and how do you create it?

I don’t know yet what my art really is, as it is an evolutive, intuitive and spiritual process. There is no specific genre, it is a fusion of oniric/fantasy/abstract and all the things I like…I guess I’m trying to make a cross over of two separate worlds: “art” and “illustration”…It’s a work in progress, a journey.

Right now I mostly use acrylics on canvas and ink on paper that I mix with digital work to make my art but I am still interested in any kind of media like working with wood, clay, metal and so on. The creative process is an intuitive one, I really try to quiet my mind and listen to a higher source of inspiration, most of the time, when I start a piece I do not know how I will do it and what it will look like once finished.

I could do a more rational/technical work but it is not at all the path or direction I am looking for. I really want to achieve a process of creation where I am just a tool and where a higher source is the creative one who guides my hand through the steps of realization for each piece.

bionic manWhat inspires you to create?

Everything can be a potential source of creativity for me, when you are in the “listening mode”, ideas can come from anywhere or anything, it comes from all the things I love to watch, all mixed together : History, art, nature, movies, comics, illustration, video games, music, architectures etc.

Mostly, I seem to be obsessed by combining the past and the future together through the mythological and archetypal “bestiaries” from the different cultures all around the world. Its like wanting to create my own parallel universe where all forms and period of time were recombined together in a science-fiction world. I don’t know if that even makes sense but that is the adventure I am on.

yin yangIs there a message that you wish to communicate through your art and what is it?

I would like my art to convey messages of peace, love, serenity and spiritual enlightenment but right now I’m still conversing with my old demons and the visual results of my art are mostly expressing that I guess : the journey from darkness to light through pain and silent screams. I am not trying to show to the viewer just a cool picture/illustration as I was doing before.

My goal is to make each time a different image like a key or a portal, something that will impact enough the viewer’s consciousness to access/open the door where resides his/her inner self, creativity, imagination, the place where the “cosmic child” is locked, the center of energy hiding from the conformity of our modern civilization, the “real you”.

That is why I do not respect the rules of classic illustration like composition/depths/perspectives and so on, I intend to show you an image that “hack” directly the deepest levels of your inner self.

I realize how pretentious/crazy, I probably sound but that is what I am trying to accomplish here in my artwork. As I continue my journey, I hope to be able to express it in a more peaceful, serene ways as I reckon that right now, most of my work is kind of dark.

Which is your favorite piece of work and why?

I do not have a favorite piece, really…so I would answer that my favorite piece is the next one, the one that don’t exist yet, the one that is still to be created. I am part of those artists that are reluctant to take a look at their production once it’s done, always searching to do something more accurate with their vision of it.

You also do metal sculptures? What are your various art forms you work with?

I would love to do metal sculptures but right now, I haven’t the skills nor the means to do it right now. I plan anyway to start soon to do some with clay and with 3d softwares. it will come in good time. As I was saying above, I mainly use acrylics on canvas and inks on papers that I mix with digital processing which are the tools I feel the most comfortable with but I’m also experimenting with plastic, wood, clay and metal, trying to make objects like boxes, masks and so on. Working on 3D models should be the natural next step for now.

tribal chimeraWhat is your opinion on the times we live in?

Since as a kid, I always felt like something was wrong about the society’s system we are forced to live in. This is my world but this not my society, as for me, everything in it is inverted and/or corrupted. I do believe that living in this beautiful planet should be a constant amazement filled with peace, love and joy, knowledge and wisdom…when it is really a living hell for many to many of us, or at least a place filled with sadness, frustration, anger and suffering, ignorance and stupidity.

As for the time we are living in, I believe that, as the elite ruling this world are making their best efforts to enslave us into a form of reality, where most of us are forced to be extremely unfulfilled low version of themselves, the opposite natural reaction of the people is a slow worldwide awakening into a higher form of consciousness, thanks to the Internet.

It appears to me that the austerity/crisis/debt and all the banking and monetary system is an obvious fraud and that they are pushing us slowly to some form of rebellion/revolution where they will kill many of us and use it to justify the appliance of a new set of tyrannic rules to bring in their “NWO” plan.

What we should do is use only pacific ways to fight back like, for example, a worldwide total full on strike movement where the vast majority of us would stop working at the same time, blocking all the system at once and then imposing new constitutions written by the people, for the people. Call me crazy!

Check Out Sylvian Dousset’s pages on facebook:

Artwork of Sylvian Dousset

SF Cyborgs Mechas Robots Biomechs

Pandemonium

Adopting a Courage-based Lifestyle over a Fear-based one ~ Become The Tipping Point, Part 2

Gary Z McGee
-
4
Adopting a Courage-based Lifestyle over a Fear-based one ~ Become The Tipping Point, Part 2
Frayed_Rope_Breaking
Tightrope

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin

In Malcom Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, he crafts an extended metaphor he refers to as “The Law of the Few,” a concept where, “the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.” What does it take to become one of these few? It takes the ability to adopt a courage-based lifestyle over a fear-based one.

The first thing we must ask ourselves is how entrenched is our culturally-prescribed worldview. Asking this important question gets us closer to realizing what we might be afraid of, while also revealing any pesky underlying cognitive dissonance that might be swaying our perceptions. The thing is: all of life is based upon condition. What condition were we born into? What state of socioeconomic affluence? What nationality? What religion or philosophy were we raised with?

If, as Robert Green Ingersoll suggested, “the intellectual advancement of man depends on how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new truth” then it stands to reason that the evolution of mankind itself advances depending upon how often we can exchange outdated methods of governance with more updated ones.

And does this not further suggest that personal growth depends upon how often we can stretch comfort zones, break mental paradigms, and think outside the box? Is not growth the ability to “move past” precondition in a healthy way? If so, then adopting a courage-based lifestyle is necessary to moving past, or transcending, the condition.

yin-yang-of-courage-and-fear
Courage/Fear

Most of us were raised to believe that everything is separate; that it’s a dog-eat-dog world; that we should fear each other and especially the dreaded “Other” or we may find ourselves in harm’s way. Being raised in such a way inculcates a fear-based perspective. When we live in a fear-based way, paranoia and the seeming need for rampant security are the norm.

Living a fear-based life leads to the need to control, which leads to victimization, which leads to trauma, which leads to inertia, which leads to a variety of psychological neurosis. And here we are.

But we don’t have to live this way. We can choose to live in a courage-based way, where love and cooperation are the norm. But it does take courage, an enormous amount of courage, tantamount to Herculean proportions. That’s why it’s referred to as the Law of the few. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, or a “pipe dream” or some wished-for, unattainable “utopia.”

It just means it will require an immense amount of effort. More than most can handle. Human beings once lived in healthy accord with each other, and with nature. We went from living in a democratic cooperative (eco-centric) way, to living in an exploitative competitive (ego-centric) way. But there’s nothing saying we can’t eventually reach a tipping point that tips the scales back in favor of a healthy equilibrium with the environment.

Living a courage-based lifestyle leads to freedom, which leads to the need to empower and free others, which leads to other courageous people, which can lead to a tipping point. It comes down to drawing a line in the “sand” of our all-too-conditioned hearts.

Goldfish-take-the-leap
Take the leap

On the one side is the fear-based lifestyle. On the other side is the courage-based lifestyle. One side is coming from a place of fear and paranoia. The other side is coming from a place of courage and self-sacrifice.

If our goal is to become one of the few who will lead the majority toward a tipping point, then we need to become the type of person who is not filled with fear, but who is filled with ruthless love and unflinching compassion. We must leave behind the fear-based lifestyle; the lifestyle that panders to authority and quibbles over petty securities that just end up becoming shackles anyway.

But we also need to understand that the vast majority of people are still willing to live fear-based lifestyles. We should sympathize with them for having not woken up yet, but we should not pity them. It isn’t their fault that they were brainwashed and conditioned to live in a fear-based way, but it is definitely their responsibility to reeducate themselves and to break themselves of their condition.

We can lead people to knowledge, but we can’t make them think. We can, however, remain ruthless with our courage-based lifestyle, especially with those who are still living fear-based lifestyles. Call it hard love. Call it what you will. Like Derrick Jensen wrote, “Love does not imply pacifism.”

Part three of Becoming the Tipping Point will go into adopting a relationship-based lifestyle over an ownership-based one.

Image source:
Tightrope
Courage/Fear

Yopo: the Ancient Amazonian DMT Snuff

Juan Pablo Hern
-
5
Yopo: the Ancient Amazonian DMT Snuff

Yopo is a visionary snuff used by various tribes in South America for over 4000 years! Nowadays, it’s mostly used by the tribes in the Amazonian Jungle – Yanomami and the Piaroa – who have managed to fend off the influence of the western world, for their spiritual and healing purpose.

Even to this day, they continue to hear the wisdom of the jungle in the form of Yopo snuff. The base of the snuff is prepared with dried seeds of the tree Anadenanthera Peregrina.

The dried seeds are lightly roasted and then ground into a fine powder that is mixed with ash (it helps to bring about the alkaloids), tobacco, honey and other ingredients that vary, usually to give the substance a pleasant odor.

anadenantheraThe scientific name of the Anadenanthera Peregrina makes clear reference to the Sanskrit word ‘ananda’ meaning bliss. There are other variations of the tree which also have similar properties such as Anadenanthera Colubrina.

It can be said that yopo is a cousin of the sacred vine, Ayahuasca in two ways. One is that it also contains DMT. Secondly because yopo is usually ingested along with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, one of the two plants that are used to prepare the ayahuasca brew. Although yopo can have a powerful effect by itself, when combined with Banisteriopsis caapi its effects are potentiated.

This happens because the vine contains MAOi (monoamine oxidase inhibiting), a chemical compound that our own body produces in order to break up substances such as DMT, allowing thus, the DMT to remain much longer in the system. The Yopo snuff also contains a combination of Bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT, molecules that are similar to DMT in chemical structure and produces a visionary experience.

The result of chewing Banisteriopsis caapi, is a very mild. There could be a tingling sensation in the mouth and a general numbness.

In contrast Yopo’s effect is sudden and intense. It can be inhaled by oneself with a sniff pipe or be blown into one’s nostrils by another person using a blow pipe (the idea being that when another person helps, much more of the substance reaches the mucous membranes, from where it gets absorbed into the bloodstream).

yopo snuffIn the first five minutes, there can be a set of strong discomfort, mainly on the upper respiratory system. The nasal cavity and most of the pharynx swells up causing an itchy sensation that is accompanied by a lot of snort. After this, one can feel some pressure in the head and feel extreme nausea, which can also lead to vomiting.

After this short initial period of discomfort, the hallucinogenic effects kicks in suddenly. From ideas, time travel and abstract geometrical patterns, yopo gives you a memorable visionary experience. Personally, I was caught in a maelstrom of insights, battles, vision and realizations that left me quite tired and serene.

It is very abrupt making it hard to know what to expect. Personally I think the plant helps one finding their inner self, naked and pure with whom it dialogues like a doctor does: It reviewed my life and pointed out things that I needed to improve in a voice that sounded something like this: change this attitude here, put this confidence there, and keep walking your path. Now that I look back I can say that It was a beautiful spiritual tune-up.

During the intense part of the voyage people can get “hard to reach” (kind of like people under the effect of Salvia Divinorum), especially if they are inexperienced: the bombardment of visions makes it difficult to connect with the other world in a coherent manner. This initial spike of hallucinogenic potency does not last very long and subsequently fades away in a couple of hours.

In a traditional setting, the sessions are guided by a shaman who sings and plays instruments such as the rattle or a pan flute. Like with other entheogens, sounds greatly influence the dynamics of the experience, just like the environment and our mindset. Yopo shamans describe this experience as an opening of the 3rd eye, and being able to perceive into the light of the non-physical spiritual dimensions.

While some people prefer to do it in daylight other favor pitch black conditions (the strongest visual effects happens with the eyes shut). As for myself, I ponder not the amount of the ideal luminosity, but rather, whether or not I’m ready to be spiritually dissected by Yopo (because of its potency).

Image Source

Erowid

1...316317318...348Page 317 of 348